European clubs have been told they can look forward to huge increases in broadcast and sponsorship revenue from continental club competitions in a “new dawn” post-Super League.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of the European Club Association, has written to its member clubs hailing a “tectonic shift” in the ability of clubs to help shape European football in the future.
Instigators of the Super League, which collapsed last April within days of its foundation, pointed to the control UEFA exerted over commercial matters as a reason why clubs needed to take charge of their own destiny.
However, the ECA has worked in partnership with UEFA over the tender process to appoint agencies to sell commercial rights for the Champions League and other club competitions in the 2024-27 cycle.
It is understood revenue is projected to reach five billion US dollars (just under £3.7bn) per season, a big increase on the current 3.6bn US dollars a season (just under £2.7bn).
Al-Khelaifi, the president of Paris St Germain who resisted offers to join the breakaway league last April, told ECA members in a letter seen by the PA news agency: “This announcement (appointing the marketing agencies) represents a tectonic shift in the role that clubs now play – thanks to ECA and in partnership with UEFA – in the decisions that shape European football.
“It also represents a new dawn of financial stability and opportunity for European football clubs as the way in which our club competitions are commercialised will be transformed.
“Ultimately, thanks to this process and joint decision-making between ECA and UEFA – bringing together the very best of our two organisations under the UCC SA Joint Venture – we were able to achieve the highest ever commercial prospects for European club competitions. Further still, there are additional untapped revenue streams that we are actively exploring.”
The format of the club competitions from 2024-25, including that of the Champions League, has not yet been completely finalised.
On April 19 last year – hours after 12 clubs announced the formation of the Super League – the UEFA executive committee voted on changes to the group stage whereby 32 teams grouped in one league would play 10 matches under a ‘Swiss system’.
However, in the wake of the Super League scandal discussions are still ongoing over the format, though these are expected to be settled well before the agencies go to market with the rights towards the end of this year.
